May 4 | Easter 3, Year C
Acts 9:1-6 (7-20)
Psalm 30
Revelation 5:11-14
John 21:1-19
We tend to associate the invitation to “follow me” with our Lord Jesus Christ in the Gospels. It is, however, a call to God’s people throughout Scripture. When God first spoke to Abram, he told him to leave his father and his land that he might go to the place where God would lead him (Gen. 12:1). The people of Israel followed God out of Egypt and into the wilderness (Ex. 13:21-22). The Lord led the people into the Promised Land (Josh. 3:10-11). And it was symbolic of the Israelites’ refusal to follow God that they demanded from Samuel a king instead of following God as their king (1 Sam. 8:7). Both the good and the bad in the history of Israel are associated with the command to “follow me.”
Just as following is characteristic of both the most trivial games of our childhood and the weightiest pursuits of our vocations, Jesus’ invitation to “follow me” has universal application in the life of the believer. The comprehensive nature of this call is seen in our lesson from St. John. To follow Jesus presents both little and big challenges. St. Peter and the disciples return to their default mode after the death of Jesus. They go home to familiar waters and back to fishing. But they catch nothing. Then, a man on land says throw the net on the other side of the boat. Their boat was not a cruise ship but a Galilean fishing vessel that was only about eight feet wide. The fishermen must have thought: “Are you out of your mind?” No wonder St. Peter’s response to the amazing catch was to declare that the man on the beach was his Lord. It was a little thing to follow Jesus in throwing the net to the other side, but it was rewarded with huge dividends.
Once on land, St. Peter was presented with another command from Jesus to “follow me.” This time it was no little challenge but a big one. The challenge was to love Jesus and God’s people more than the fish. Jesus was telling St. Peter that he was to give up his identity as a fisherman and do the work he had seen Jesus doing.
Jesus meets us in our little lives so that he can lead us into the greater life of the kingdom. In our lives, we till the land for a meager harvest, but it is God who causes the growth. However, God would lead us into a greater and eternal harvest for his kingdom. We must follow God into the field and harvest as he instructs us.
In this reading, the command to “follow me” goes beyond the little and the big challenges and into the huge. Jesus’ ultimate call to St. Peter and to all who believe in him is to follow him to the cross—to come and die. “Follow me” means first to do as I say. That is, give up our way for his way, our will for his will. Second, “follow me” means to do as I have done. As Jesus gave up his life for us, we are to do likewise for others. The call is to die to ourselves and live to Christ.
Baptism is the how we follow Jesus. It is not the water, the words, or the works that are of ultimate importance in baptism; it is the transforming power of his Spirit working in us to become like Jesus. The time between our baptism and our grave is the period of our transformation. It is the period when our natural selves are transformed into a more perfect image of Christ.
Look It Up: Matthew 4:17-19
Think About It: Jesus commanded us to repent and to follow him. How are they related?
The Rev. Dr. Chuck Alley, former rector of St. Matthew’s Church in Richmond, Virginia, teaches anatomy at Virginia Commonwealth University Medical School.
